


In Sickness and in Health

by thisfairytalegonebad



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Multi, OT5, Polyamory, Self-Indulgent, Sickfic, pure self indulgent trash I'm telling you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 09:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11964690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisfairytalegonebad/pseuds/thisfairytalegonebad
Summary: The boys are all spending winter holidays at Haru's, and after the first one gets sick, it's only a matter of time until the others get sick too. All that's left to do is to curl up in bed to ride it out and try not to die.





	In Sickness and in Health

**Author's Note:**

> O shit waddup it's 5:30 am and I just finished this piece of pure self indulgent trash, I don't even know
> 
> Enjoy!

Makoto felt fine, until he didn’t. 

 

Rin and Rei were on their morning run, and Nagisa had managed to get Makoto and Haru in the shower with him. The water had felt nice and warm, and Haru’s and Nagisa’s touches had sent warm sparks through him as well. Ideally, they would’ve stayed in the shower all day, but in the end, Makoto’s reasonable side had won and he’d turned off the stream to leave some warm water for Rin and Rei once they were back from their run. 

 

But even now that he was wrapped in a huge towel like the other two, and despite the nice warmth in Haru’s house, he couldn’t stop shivering. At the same time, his head felt much too hot, and all he wanted was to lie down right on the tiled bathroom floor and go back to sleep.  

 

“Mako-chan? Are you okay?” Nagisa asked, rubbing his head on Makoto’s shoulder. 

 

Haru appeared on Makoto’s other side. He didn’t touch him, but stared at him with his inquiring gaze that always made Makoto feel like Haru could look straight through him. “You’re shaking,” he observed. 

 

“Like a leaf!” Nagisa added, “Are you sick?”

 

Makoto’s own voice sounded off to him as he spoke, as though he were wrapped in cotton. “I- I don’t know, I felt fine earlier…” But now? Now he felt like he was actually dying. As he turned his head to look at Nagisa, his vision started to swim and he felt dangerously close to losing his balance. Too fast for his muddled brain, both Nagisa and Haru had gripped his arm on each side and were keeping him upright. 

 

“You gotta go back to bed, Mako-chan!”

 

Yes. Bed sounded nice, the bed was where Makoto wanted to be for the rest of his life now. He tried to make a noise of acknowledgement of some sort, but it turned out Nagisa wasn’t asking for his permission. He and Haru guided him back to bed and lowered him on the mattress gently, and he fell asleep even before they had properly positioned him. 

 

Haru and Nagisa stood in the room a bit lost. “Mako-chan  _ never  _ gets sick,” Nagisa complained, and Haru nodded in agreement. “Last time he was sick was in middle school.”

 

“So uh, do we make him tea?” 

 

“He’s asleep, it would only get cold. We can make tea later.”

 

Nagisa nodded. “Then we can make breakfast, for when Rei-chan and Rin-chan get back.”

 

In the kitchen, Haru started to fry mackerel and cooking rice, while Nagisa made coffee, and barley tea for Rei. They worked beside each other in comfortable silence, until Nagisa pointed out, “Say, Haru-chan, shouldn’t Rei-chan and Rin-chan be back already? They left almost two hours ago, didn’t they?”

 

Haru shrugged, taking the frying pan off the stove and turning the heat off. “Maybe they took a different route.”

 

“But it’s so cold! Rei-chan once said it wasn’t healthy to be outside this long in the cold when you’re sweaty! Rei-chan is always so worried about being healthy, do you think he’d do something like that?”

 

“They’ll probably be fine,” Haru shrugged again. 

 

“Probably? Haru-chan, that’s not- what if they  _ die _ ?” 

 

“They’re not going to-” The sound of the door opening interrupted Haru, a cold gust of wind swept inside and made both of them shiver. “See, here they are.”

 

Nagisa rushed out of the kitchen. “Rin-chan, Rei-chan, we made- what’s up with Rin-chan?”

 

Rin was barely standing upright, it looked like a very exhausted Rei was holding up most of his weight. Both of them looked half frozen, but when Nagisa went to touch Rin’s forehead, he was practically burning up. “Is Rin-chan sick too?”

 

“Rin-san almost collapsed when we were about halfway. I made him sit down, but it only got worse. He seems to have a fever, and he could barely get up. I practically carried him back. It’s probably the flu, but I hope being outside in sweaty clothes for so long did not cause any more harm. Wait- sick  _ too _ ?”

 

“Yeah, Mako-chan is sick, he felt really bad after we showered this morning. We put him back to bed,” Nagisa explained, eyeing Rin skeptically.

 

Rin buried his face in Rei’s shoulder and coughed weakly. “Rei, I think I’m dying.”

 

Rei sighed. “You are not dying, Rin-san. However, you do need to get out of those wet clothes and into bed as fast as possible.”

 

Haru emerged from the kitchen and assisted Rei with dragging Rin, who was barely responding at this point, to bed where Makoto was sleeping.

 

Rei reached out to start taking off Rin’s wet clothes, but Haru held him back. “You need to get out of yours too. You’re shivering.”

 

Only now, Rei realised how cold he was, and how uncomfortably the cold, wet clothes were sticking to his skin. “Ugh, this is not beautiful…”

“Go take a hot shower, Rei-chan,” Nagisa ordered, and then exclaimed, “Poor Rei-chan has to shower on his own now!”

 

“I’m sure I will survive, Na- Haruka-senpai? What are you doing?”

 

Haru looked up at him, already half undressed. “Showering with you.” A shower wasn’t a bath, or a pool, or the ocean, but it was  _ water _ . 

 

Rei turned bright red, even though he should have been familiar with both Haru’s strange  spontaneity (and the glint in his eyes at the thought of water) and the thought of being around any of them naked by now. “Ah, that’s not necess-” but he was already being dragged off to the bathroom by Haru before he could finish his sentence, leaving Nagisa to take care of Rin’s wet clothes. 

 

“We should take their temperature later,” Rei said as Haru shut the bathroom door and turned on the water so it would be warm when they were ready. 

 

“Mh, they’ll be fine. It’s just the flu,” Haru said, moving closer to Rei. He hooked his fingers under the hem of Rei’s shirt and pulled it over his head for him. “What about you? Are you feeling okay?”

 

“I’m cold, but otherwise fine.” Rei shivered, and hurried to take off the rest of his clothes. Haru did the same. 

 

Haru pulled Rei close and gave him a quick kiss before they shuffled into the shower. Rei couldn’t hold back a relieved sigh when the hot water hit his frozen body and warmed him up gradually. 

 

Since Haru had already showered once today, he allowed himself to stand under the hot stream with his eyes closed, letting the water run over him as Rei washed his hair. As usual, the feeling of the water calmed him to the point of a near meditative state, which he only snapped out of when Rei was done washing off the shampoo and moved to turn off the water. 

 

A little offended, he looked at Rei, but Rei only snorted in amusement, and handed him a towel. “From what I’ve heard, this was your second shower today, so you don’t get to complain.”

 

Haru huffed, but accepted the towel. Leaving Rei to his post-shower routine, he put his clothes back on after drying himself off, and went to check on the others. 

 

Nagisa was in the living room, flicking through a manga he had most likely stolen from one of his sisters again. “Haru-chan!” he said, when Haru sat down next to him. “Mako-chan and Rin-chan are asleep, and I got bored. I didn’t look like they were gonna wake up again any time soon.”

 

“We’ll eat breakfast when Rei is done,” Haru said.

 

Nagisa hummed in agreement and went back to his manga, while Haru stroked his hair. 

 

Not much later, Rei emerged from the bathroom, now wearing an oversized sweater. He joined them, leaning against Haru a bit. 

 

“Rei-chan, you never wear sweaters that are too big! I didn’t know you even owned one of those!” Nagisa teased, and Rei blushed. 

 

“W-well,” Rei started, but Haru said, “He doesn’t. It’s Makoto’s.”

 

“Eh?! Rei-chan?! You’re wearing Mako-chan’s sweater? That’s so cute, I bet Mako-chan would start crying right away if he knew!”

 

“No, that’s Rin,” Haru chimed in again, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

 

Nagisa gasped in delight. “Ohh, Haru-chan! Rei-chan, did you hear that? Haru-chan just totally roasted Rin-chan, and Rin-chan wasn’t even around to hear it.”

 

Rei sighed. “I’m sure you will not waste any time to tell him once he is able to process it.”

 

“You’re right,” Nagisa confirmed, “But really, Mako-chan would think it’s adorable that you’re wearing his clothes! We should tell him.”

 

“Please do not,” Rei protested, “And I am not cute.”

 

“Oh you’re plenty cute. Isn’t he cute, Haru-chan?”

 

“Yes. You’re cute, Rei.”

 

“Please…” Rei whined, face bright red. 

 

Nagisa reached over to pat his head. “Get over it, Rei-chan. Accept your cuteness. And I want a boyfriend sweater too! Haru-chan, can I have your sweater?”

 

“No. I’m wearing it.”

 

“Aww, but Haru-chan.”

 

Finally, Rei put an end to the conversation. “I believe you made breakfast? Shall we go eat?”

 

Always the first at the food, Nagisa jumped up and rushed to the kitchen. “Yep! I made barley tea for you, Rei-chan. And coffee for Rin-chan, but he doesn’t need it now. Hmm, maybe I should drink it.”

 

“Please don’t,” Rei groaned, but took the offered glass gratefully. “You’re the last person on earth who needs caffeine.”

* * *

After breakfast, Haru, Rei, and Nagisa curled up in the living room together. Nagisa wanted to watch a movie, and since Makoto wasn’t around, Haru let him pick a horror movie. Nagisa absolutely adored horror movies, Haru would watch pretty much anything without complaint, and Rei, whilst he wasn’t a big fan of them, at least found comfort in the fact that it was daytime. It wasn’t that he was  _ scared  _ of them, he wasn’t Makoto after all, but in the dark, even his imagination liked to run wild sometimes. 

 

At first, Haru and Rei told Nagisa not to make too much noise with the other two sleeping in Haru’s bedroom, but a brief glance at them proved that they currently couldn’t be woken by anything. So the house was soon filled with screams, creepy laughter, and Nagisa’s squeals of glee when another innocent person was brutally murdered on screen. 

 

Haru idly wondered if Nagisa’s enthusiasm for murder should be concerning, when a dry sounding cough drew his attention. He looked down at Rei who was lying with his head in Haru’s lap. His eyes were closed, and a faint blush tinted his cheeks. 

 

“Rei,” he addressed him, watching as Rei opened his eyes slowly and blinked up at him. “Are you feeling okay?”

 

Another cough, followed by a sniffle. “Yes, I’m fine.”

 

Haru frowned, and tried to put his hand on Rei’s forehead, but Rei sat up before he had the chance. 

 

“I will make tea for Makoto-senpai and Rin-san, they need to stay hydrated,” he announced and got up, disappearing to the kitchen. 

 

Nagisa and Haru exchanged a glance. Not twenty seconds later, the sound of glass breaking could be heard, followed by something bigger and heavier hitting the floor. Alarmed, Nagisa jumped up and rushed to the kitchen, Haru right behind him. 

  
Sure enough, Rei was crumpled on the floor, broken pieces of glass scattered next to him, but at least it didn’t seem like he had fallen into them. 

 

“Rei-chan, what happened? Are you okay?”

 

Rei opened his eyes blearily. “Dizzy...,” he coughed.

 

“Okay, you’re going to bed too,” Nagisa decided. After making sure Rei hadn’t hit his head, they helped him stand, but before they could drag him out of the kitchen, the sound of another cough made them turn to the door. 

 

“Mako-chan? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Nagisa cried, hurrying to support Makoto, who was standing in the door looking about to keel over. He was wrapped in a blanket, and Nagisa giggled a little at the sight. “Did you leave Rin-chan without a blanket?”

Makoto continued to stand in the door looking lost. “I heard…” he whispered, gesturing at the room. 

 

“Yeah, Rei-chan is stupid and collapsed on the kitchen floor, he’s okay.”

 

With wobbly steps, Makoto slowly approached Rei. “Did you hurt yourself?” he asked, voice sounding raspy and weak. 

 

Rei shook his head, and Haru could only stare at Makoto in disbelief. “For fuck’s sake, Makoto, go to bed.”

 

“But-” Makoto said, reaching out to Rei, but cutting himself off. “Rei, are you wearing my sweater? That’s adorable!”

 

Haru was fed up. “Nagisa, let’s switch. Take Rei to bed.” He made Rei lean against the counter so he wouldn’t fall over again, and took Makoto from Nagisa, while Nagisa returned to Rei. 

 

Somehow, they dragged both of them into the bedroom. Indeed, Rin was sleeping without a blanket, since Makoto had stolen it, so he was left curled into himself and shivering, but still asleep. After depositing Rei, who had just enough energy left to wrap his arms around Rin, Nagisa searched the cupboard for another blanket and covered the two with it. 

 

“Haru-chan, I’m gonna finish making tea for them now that they’re kinda awake,” he informed Haru and left him to deal with Makoto on his own. 

 

It turned out that Makoto, while considerate and motherly when healthy, was a needy baby who still tried to act on his motherly instincts before dealing with his own needs, hence him getting out of bed when he had heard the noise in the kitchen. And now that everything else was dealt with, the needy part showed. 

 

“Haru-chan, please stay. You’re warm, and I’m cold, and I don’t feel well,” Makoto whined. 

 

Haru rolled his eyes, choosing not to comment on the suffix for once. “You have Rin and Rei with you.”

 

“Haru-chaaan!”

 

If Makoto thought that was going to work on him, he was wrong. Haru was strong, and Makoto’s puppy dog eyes could not faze him. 

 

“Please, Haru-chan.”

 

Haru was weak. Haru was weak, and he was glad Nagisa wasn’t there to see how he sighed in defeat and slipped under the blanket with Makoto. 

* * *

Cleaning up the broken glass in the kitchen and making tea had taken a bit longer than Nagisa had thought. When he was done, he carried the tray with the mugs full of tea to Haru’s room, but the sight that greeted him made him smile. 

 

Makoto was lying on his back with Rei resting his head on his chest, and Rin was wrapped around Rei from behind. And apparently Haru had decided to join them, and was occupying the other side of Makoto’s chest. All four of them were asleep, and the faint blush now on Haru’s face matched the others. 

Frowning, Nagisa bent down to Haru and laid his hand on his forehead, and really, Haru’s skin felt hot to the touch; it seemed that he had developed a fever as well. 

 

Nagisa stared at the tea in his hands for a moment, wondering what to do with it now. In the end, he shrugged, placed the tray on the nightstand carefully, and slid in bed next to Rin. After all, at this point, it was only a matter of time until he got sick too. 

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't proofread so if you spot anything wrong with it, please let me know. And please also let me know if you liked it, that'd mean the world!  
> Anyway there needs to be more Free! OT5 in this world because my heart nEEDS IT
> 
> Pls come yell at me about Free! on my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Butterfly_OnIce) or [Tumblr](thisfairytalegonebad.tumblr.com)!! I feel lonely with my obsession


End file.
